- The venue - Opium is a rock bar. The venue space is upstairs and is a nightclub. It attracts a young clientel- The performance area - There is an elevated platform at the top of the room which acts as a stage. It can seat about 60 people and is a good space to perform comedy in. There are two pillars on the stage which can be a hindrance or act as a nice prop depending on what you're into.- The team of staff at the venue - The staff were awesome. Could not do enough for me and responded to my every request. Very friendly and approachable. They even gave me some members of staff near the end of the run to help me with flyering.- How you advertised your show - Fringe brochure, flyering and word of mouth- How your shows went in terms of audience numbers - pleasantly surprised with my numbers. Averaged about 20 per day. The weather can be a hindrance, but also a plus factor as people wanted to shelter from the elements !- Your show itself - The show overall worked out great after I worked out the locals and fine tuned some of the material. - Buckets - the donations varied from night to night. I wasn't helped by the fact that there was another exit at the back of the room and some of the less generous used this as an escape route to avoid dontating, but on the whole, people donated generously with what they could afford.- Technical set-up at the venue - I had no real technical assistance. Often walking on to a completely cold room as there was nobody to work the sound desk. I bought an iPod dock to have music in the room when people arrived which helped the atmosphere.- Admin & Communication process - I had no issuse with this as I was kept abreast at all times with any issues- Any other learning points for anyone involved - they need to ensure the door at the back, the other exit is manned by another bucket or shut so that there is only one exit.Please be constructive, for any downside you mention, please try to suggest a solution - The only real downside for me was that the venue Opium faces out on Cowgate which is fine, but the Free Fringe shows were located around the corner up an alley. The main entrance is locked so quite often punters would arrive for shows, see that the main entrance was locked and then move on. I had to get them to put up a sign in the window telling them the venue was around the corner and up the alley. This needs to happen from day one next year as I felt I lost a lot of punters because of this

Overall, Opium was a very suitable venue and I enjoyed performing there. If they iron out the little issues above, it's the perfect place for a Free Fringe show with an ideal performing space and brilliantly helpful staff